And you thought that a federal judge blocking Gov. David Paterson's plan to furlough 100,000 state workers was good news. Nope, reports the New York Times. Now that he can't save money with furloughs, the governor has to outright lay off 10,000:

Days after a federal judge blocked his efforts to furlough half the state work force, Gov. David A. Paterson is drafting a plan that would lay off thousands of government workers at the beginning of next year, a move officials say is necessary to help balance the state budget.

In honor of the holiday, Bovina historian Ray LaFever looks all the way back to the Civil War:

Bovina lost eleven young men in the actual war: Sinclair Burns, Andrew G. Chisholm, Solomon Coulter, Robert Dysert, James C. Elliott, Thomas Elliott, William T. Gillie, John Murray, Jr., James T. Oliver, William Storie, and William H. Stott. Only three of these died in battle: brothers James and Thomas Elliott and William Stott. The Elliott brothers both died in November 1864. Thomas was wounded October 19 at Cedar Creek, Virginia and died in a Baltimore hospital on November 6. His brother James died at the end of November. Six other Bovina soldiers died of Typhoid Fever and two others died of unspecified diseases. This ratio of battle deaths to death by disease is very typical of the Civil War. Some of the fallen soldiers are buried in Bovina, while others have memorial stones, with their actual graves in the south - three are in Beaufort, South Carolina.

Sounds like a good time was had by all at the Tannersville Duck Race yesterday -- an annual event that, as of this year, now includes a Crazy Boat component. From the Catskill Daily Mail:

Among the more inventive boat designs were the Canoe Quack, a blue canoe outfitted by John and Jodi Nielsen of Poughkeepsie and Tannersville’s Thor Johnson, complete with a duck tail, bill and wings all made of wood...

...Awards for craziest and wackiest crafts went to team Pagan and their boat filled with hula hoops, as well as the Tannersville Tricycle boat that contained a tricycle.

As advertised.

Kingston's a tough town -- and with a massive federal crackdown on gang activity in Newburgh just wrapping up, locals are worried it could get tougher. But civic-minded residents are determined to fight back.

Yesterday, Kingston's energetic new neighborhood watch group took their fledgling crusade to the streets, mustering a few dozen locals to walk through Kingston's roughest streets. From the Times Herald-Record:

Thursday's community walk took them through some of Kingston's notorious streets. Up Henry Street, where drug dealers and prostitutes mix in with the row houses. Across Broadway, where some storefronts are empty. And down Franklin Street, near the site where an execution-style slaying happened in February. Along the way, volunteers handed out fliers for their next event, a breakfast June 13 at the Academy Green on Clinton Avenue.